Art Nouveau

by Maria Costantino

A biography of the Mexican priest who led his Indian followers to revolt against the Spaniards and became known as "The Father of Mexican Independence."

Genres: Art, Architecture

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Librarian Note: There are more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Jaimie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of the art books that I read tend to be focused on specific artists whom I enjoy, but the Art Nouveau movement is one of the few where there are so many diverse artists working in different genres and mediums that it's beneficial to read a more broad overview. Even though the book isn't that long, the author does a decent job of covering all the subjects within the Art Nouveau movement from the variety of artists and their diverse mediums to the specifics and differences within the artistic style, defined often by country. Considering how broad the Art Nouveau movement was, the author could have easily gotten bogged down in minutae, but she manages to keep everything relatively concise and organized by separating her book into chapers based on artistic medium: architecture, painting, jewelry, etc. In a few cases I felt myself getting a bit lost in the whirlwind of information and artwork, but I blame that mostly on the fact that I haven't really explore Art Nouveau architecture and furniture (besides Klimt's work) so the myriad of names and illustrations got a touch confusing. Clearly I can easily rectify this by just studying more, and considering how much I enjoyed this brief taste of these new topics I am sure I will quickly acquiesce to the information. The biggest benefit of the book I felt that was that because it covered the Art Nouveau movement so broadly, but with enough details, we can easily see some of the common themes thorughout that make the movement so interesting. If anything, this book has just given me infinitely more to read!

[Niels · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives a nice introduction to Art Nouveau by highlighting the work of many artists in the fields of the applied arts and architecture and interior design. It also contains a small section about Art Nouveau influences after World War I.
I liked the large pictures in the book! And it was great to learn something more about an art style I've always enjoyed quite a bit.